Ryan Adams- Wednesdays
Label: PAX AM
Producers: Ryan Adams, Beatriz Artola and Don Was
Critically acclaimed alt-rocker Ryan Adams was originally due to follow up his 2017 album, Prisoner, with a trilogy of records in 2019, before those were ultimately shelved in the wake of abuse allegations leveled at the singer-songwriter. Now, after two years of relative seclusion, Adams has gone the 2020 trend of surprise-dropping with the release of Wednesdays, one of those initial trilogy records and now officially his seventeenth studio release. While that aforementioned controversy will certainly loom over the release of this record, Wednesdays remains an artistically intriguing album based on the music alone. With the bulk of the material presumably written prior to the scandal which effectively paused his career, it is nevertheless one of the most deeply reflective records that Adams has released in some time. The sonic trappings of the album primarily trade in the rock-heavy leanings of his later works and find the artist returning to the more stripped alt-country tones of his seminal early albums, and at times, the country-rock overtures of his output with former backing band, The Cardinals.
The project’s solemn, mournful tone is immediately established by the soft-spoken opener, “I’m Sorry and I Love You”, which finds Adams singing in his rarely used higher timbre. If you had initially mistaken this or the similar follow up track “Who’s Going to Love Me Now, If Not You” for Neil Young, you’d be forgiven. Both songs, along with Adams’ vocals and the intricate specificities of the lyrics, are all dripping with Young’s influence, and that was undoubtedly intentional. Young should not be offended either, as they’re both poetic and beautiful performances. Adams’ lyrics are raw with utter melancholy, with each line serving as yet another cutting revelation of pain and despair: “The empty parts of me I left in your hometown, in the bedroom of the house where you were raised”…”I used to sleep beside the angel, but now I’m just a stranger in a house with things I cannot throw away.”
Piercing displays of loss and sad ruminations of regret abound throughout Wednesdays. Emmylou Harris fittingly provides her signature ethereal harmonies on a pair of tragic family tales, the eulogic “When You Cross Over”, and the bitter condemnation, “Mamma”. Harris’ presence is subtle but pivotal to these tracks all the same, and recalls the pair’s earlier collaborations, as well as critical proclamations that once predicted Adams as a second coming of Gram Parsons. Meanwhile, the title track serves as a complex centerpiece for the record, starting in a church setting before roaming through a series of vivid yet mysterious reflections. It seems to essentially capture how we’re all somewhat wandering through life, looking for the wrong type of release or solace, while the real thing is staring us right in the face. It’s a heartwarming performance, but utterly bittersweet as well. In contrast, “Poison & Pain” is a sobering, clear-eyed account of a troubled soul crippled by addictions and anxieties, but one who seems to know acknowledging them is the first step in conquering them. It’s profoundly simple and guttural, and one of the true album highlights.
If you’re looking for some kind of peace or comfort while listening to Wednesdays, you won’t necessarily find any. However, you will find some fleeting moments of either resolution, or at least more muscular production. “Walk in the Dark” is a truly tender gem, tempered by comforting organ riffs and a lover’s pledge to always navigate life’s darker paths together as one. “Birmingham” however is when Adams really amps up the temperature ever so slightly, and gives a nod back to his more vintage rock inclinations. The track is vibrantly colored with bouncier tempo, thicker sonic flavors and Adams’ excellently sardonic delivery of irreverent metaphors and clever personification.
Closing out the album, “Dreaming You Backwards” proves to be the premier standout of the record. It’s excellently sung: melodic and somber, yet graced with just the slightest bit of hope in repairing one’s past mistakes, naive as it may be. It soulfully rides a groove that’s equal parts blues and Heartland Rock. More performances in this vein would have certainly been welcome throughout the album; but perhaps it proves as a solid preview of what’s to come in parts two and three of this supposed trilogy.
In the end, Wednesdays may prove to be just a tad too understated or monotonous to truly establish itself as one of Ryan Adams’ truly great records. With that being said, it remains a soul stirring listening experience, and more than sufficient evidence that Adams still has plenty of formidable music to offer listeners after two decades of recording music, and even in the wake of the darkest public hour of his career.
Track Listing
- “I’m Sorry and I Love You” (Ryan Adams)
- “Who Is Going to Love Me Now, If Not You” (Adams)
- “When You Cross Over” with Emmylou Harris (Adams)
- “Walk in the Dark” (Adams)
- “Poison & Pain” (Adams)
- “Wednesdays” (Adams)
- “Birmingham” (Adams)
- “So, Anyways” (Adams)
- “Mamma” with Emmylou Harris (Adams)
- “Lost in Time” (Adams)
- “Dreaming You Backwards” (Adams)
The 706 
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